hope
by Axletia Rosonetis
Summary: In such a despairing situation, Sakura has found her hope. sakuraoi. Oneshot.


_hope_

Sakura kicked her legs back and forth in the water as she sat on the pool's edge, watching Asahina have the time of her life swimming around like a giddy dolphin. Already they had lost five of their comrades, but the brunette wanted to stay on the bright side of things. There were still ten of them left, plenty of food and water, and a pool. Not a kiddy pool, either, but a giant pool, meant only for the super high-school levels, like Asahina. When they had explored the new areas, she wanted to be the first one to christen the pool by swimming in its glory…with Sakura, of course.

Not having much else to do, Sakura accepted the offer. She was wary of becoming close to anyone, knowing she held the burden of being Monokuma's mole, but she enjoyed Asahina's company. She was one of the few people to not judge her by her size or by her deep, gravelly voice, simply bonding over a box of doughnuts and a couple hours' worth of exercise. It made Sakura feel like maybe she could deal with this imprisonment without giving away all of her dignity.

Hmmm, the water fell cool against her thighs. From the corner of her eye, she saw Asahina drag Naegi around in the water. The boy wasn't a champion swimmer like Asahina or even very athletic like herself, so he had trouble keeping up with the girl's pace, panting every few seconds for breath. Every time he'd do this, Asahina's cheeks puffed, and she'd scold Naegi for being so out of shape. "You need to spend some training sessions with me and Sakura-chan!" she was saying, flailing her arms in the air. Naegi's face remained bewildered yet cautious, unsure how to handle his enthusiastic friend. "Actually, I should get everyone else to join us as well. You guys need more exercise. But don't worry, Naegi-kun! You're not the worst out of shape person I've seen here!"

"Uhhh, thanks, Asahina."

"And we can eat some doughnuts afterwards!"

"Asahina, I'm not sure that's the best way to approach exercise…"

"Ahhh, you're no fun, Naegi-kun. Fine. I'll take your share off your hands."

Sakura chuckled. Asahina left Naegi floating in his own further confusion as she began swimming another lap around the pool. He was one of the others who held such compassion and hope like Asahina, though he wasn't nearly as naive. Whenever she was forced to do Monokuma's bidding, Naegi was often the next person Asahina looked to for companionship. He or Kirigiri would also ease the girl's worries whenever she actually realized that Sakura wasn't anywhere in sight. Then they'd eat doughnuts, and that usually kept Asahina content until Sakura returned.

She was thankful that Asahina was so sociable and got along very well with most of their classmates, yet she had to admit that sometimes she was a little jealous that she wasn't Asahina's only friend. The girl had given her much of the hope she held now to live alongside them all instead of succumbing to despair. If it wasn't for Asahina, she knew she would've fallen into an abyss from which she could not escape. But she also knew that though she was strong, she was weak, and it'd be selfish to try and keep Asahina away from everyone else. One day, she believed, she was sure that she'd fall prey to Monokuma's sick tactics, and she couldn't leave Asahina to fight evil by herself. There was more strength in numbers.

But today she couldn't worry about that. Holding hope in her heart, Sakura closed her eyes and enjoyed the lively atmosphere of the pool. Shortly before lunchtime Asahina and Naegi finally stepped out of the pool, exhausted, and she made sure to hand them both warm towels. Asahina buried her face in the towel, mumbling a few more words about doughnuts before she looked up at the noble giant, smiling. "Hey, Sakura-chan, you should swim with me next time. We can have a race, eheh. Naegi-kun can be the lifeguard, right, Naegi-kun?"

Naegi nodded. It was wonderful to have such kind friends. Patting Asahina on the head, Sakura also nodded. She would be very happy and thankful to accept her friend's challenge.

* * *

 _(Original notes: writing 'hope' for a dr pairing was appropriate)_

 _Originally written February 17th, 2014 on tumblr for femslash february. Now that DR 3's finishing wrapping up, I'm closer to all of the characters again, rip. It's great._


End file.
